Shilajit is composed of rock humus, rock minerals and organic substances that have been compressed by layers of rock mixed with marine organisms and microbial metabolites. It oozes out of the rocks in the Himalayas at higher altitudes ranging from 1000-5000 meters as black mass and is regarded as a maharasa (super-vitalizer) in Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, dating back to 3500 B.C. Shilajit contains fulvic acids as the main components along with dibenzo-α-pyrones (“DBPs”) and dibenzo-α-pyrone chromoproteins.
Fulvic acid complex, derived from shilajit, is an assembly of naturally occurring low and medium molecular weight compounds comprising oxygenated dibenzo-alpha-pyrones (DBPs), both in reduced as well as in oxidized form, as the core nucleus, and acylated DBPs and lipids as partial structural units, along with fulvic acids (“FAs”). Fulvic acid complex material derived from alluvial sources lack DBPs instead, the core nucleus of alluvial fulvic acid is comprised of benzoic acid.
Thus, the active constituents of shilajit contain dibenzo-alpha-pyrones and related metabolites, small peptides (constituting non-protein amino acids), some lipids, and carrier molecules (fulvic acids). See, Ghosal, S., et al., “Shilajit Part 1—Chemical constituents,” J. Pharm. Sci. (1976) 65:772-3; Ghosal, S., et al., “Shilajit Part 7—Chemistry of Shilajit, an immunomodulatory ayurvedic rasayana,” Pure Appl. Chem. (IUPAC) (1990) 62:1285-8; Ghosal, S., et al., “The core structure of Shilajit humus,” Soil Biol. Biochem. (1992) 23:673-80; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,440,436 and 6,869,612 (and references cited therein); all hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Shilajit (e.g., PrimaVie®) finds extensive use in Ayurveda, for diverse clinical conditions. For centuries, people living in the isolated villages in Himalayas and adjoining regions have used Shilajit alone, or in combination with, other plant remedies to prevent and combat problems with diabetes (Tiwari, V. P., et al., “An interpretation of Ayurvedica findings on Shilajit,” J. Res. Indigenous Med. (1973) 8:57). Moreover being an antioxidant it will prevent damage to the pancreatic islet cell induced by the cytotoxic oxygen radicals (Bhattacharya S. K., “Shilajit attenuates streptozotocin induced diabetes mellitus and decrease in pancreatic islet superoxide dismutase activity in rats,” Phytother. Res. (1995) 9:41-4; Bhattacharya S. K., “Effects of Shilajit on biogenic free radicals,” Phytother. Res. (1995) 9:56-9; and Ghosal, S., et al., “Interaction of Shilajit with biogenic free radicals,” Indian J. Chem. (1995) 34B:596-602). It has been proposed that the derangement of glucose, fat and protein metabolism during diabetes, results into the development of hyperlipidemia. In one study, Shilajit produced significant beneficial effects in lipid profile in rats (Trivedi N. A., et al., “Effect of Shilajit on blood glucose and lipid profile in alloxan-induced diabetic rats,” Indian J. Pharmacol. (2004) 36(6):373-376).
As discussed, shilajit has been used to treat various ailments. It is also recommended as a performance enhancer. Fulvic acids (FAs) are reported to elicit many important roles in biological systems of plants, in animals as well as humans, including: (a) improvement of bioavailability of minerals and nutrients, (b) serve as electrolytes, (c) detoxification of toxic substances including heavy metals, (d) perform as antioxidants, and (e) improvement of immune function.
Furthermore, dibenzo-α-pyrones have been hypothesized to participate in the electron transport inside the mitochondria, thus facilitating production of more ATP, leading to increased energy.
Thus, it would be desirable to determine which genes in the body are affected by DBPs as well as Shilajit so that a clear understanding of their pharmacological role, especially related to body weight gain or loss, can be ascertained.